Dear Rita,
Winyamaro gives me many reasons every day to celebrate life, but most of them are not obvious to the public eye. Today he was really, really good in the Grand Prix at Achleiten, and we had witnesses. Still a long way to go, much to improve, but I think we are on the right path.
Compare this test to the one at Lipica, and I am sure you can see much improvement in W’s self carriage, impulsion and general throughness. And I managed to ride a better last centerline. Still in the spirit of sharing the development of a young GP horse’s path to success, here is the GP from Achleiten:
My scores by the way ranged from 64-70 percent in this test, culminating in 66.7 percent and seventh place. My horse is getting better, and the percentage will reflect that eventually. Big sigh. We will be riding the Grand Prix Special today.
Here is some more local color from Acheleiten. The Max-Theurer family graciously invited all competitors, trainers and judges to a terrace party at the castle. Plied with champagne and hors d’oeuvres, Mr. Max—Victoria’s father—eventually agreed to a short tour of his Ritter Saal (Knight’s Chamber), which houses a 20-year effort at collecting various pieces of knight’s armor and weaponery from periods as early at 1100.
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I will have to let the videos do the talking today, Rita. I’m on the fly. First the GPS this afternoon with W and of course some planned improvements to the ride, and then we are packing up and moving on! More on our adventures soon!
I’m Catherine Haddad, and I’m sayin it like it is from Achleiten, Austria.
Training Tip of the Day: Choose one or two things to improve for each test you ride. Small improvements lead to success!
